New York-based clarinetist-vocalist Kristen Mather de Andrade delivers an incredibly ambitious record with her latest release, “Sem Fim.” Drawing from choro, frevo, MPB, and song repertory over a 15-piece ensemble, the album moves with a deeply personal musical language that’s finally been given its proper scale.
Sem Fim is a refined album, but its appeal is driven mainly by its warmth. The pieces are selected deliberately for their intimate arrangements that still retain a sense of class and elegance. The opening number, a rendition of Chiquinha Gonzaga’s classic “Antraente,” sets the mood perfectly for what’s to follow.
While most pieces are performances of Brazilian classics, one standout is “Endless and Blind,” the first ever recording of a song by Daniel Freiberg with lyrics by Steven
Sater. Andrade describes the vocal as unusually vulnerable for her, saying she had to “wear my heart on my sleeve,” and that sense of exposure seems central to the track’s role on the album.
In contrast, Hermeto Pascoal’s “Frevo Novo,” acts as the album’s burst of extroverted energy. This up-tempo number is built on forro and samba rhythms, and features Sean Jones as guest trumpeter. On an album so invested in lushness and atmosphere, Frevo Novo provides that spark where the ensemble stops gliding and starts flashing.
Pitanga’s “Clarinete Dengoso,” is the album’s clarinet showcase, and features a rich orchestral arrangement. The piece starts out as a more balanced instrumental number before Andrade steals the spotlight with her light and joyful clarinet lines.
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Mather de Andrade has clearly built this record around continuity: between genres, between eras, between her own artistic selves, and even between women in musical lineage, a theme explicitly named by her. Sem Fim looks like a rare crossover record that does not behave like one. It does not advertise its hybridity at every turn. It simply inhabits it. And that restraint may be what makes the album feel, in the best sense, complete.